Best Of Both Worlds: In Conversation With Thomas Headon

This interview was originally published by Best Before.

London-born, Melbourne-raised artist Thomas Headon took the online world by storm in 2020 with his off-kilter live sessions, tongue-in-cheek charm and remarkable songwriting ability. Now based back in London, the singer-songwriter originally taught himself to write and produce in order to kickstart his career.

Headon’s ‘Victoria EP’ was released to huge acclaim early in 2022, cementing his place as a star-in-the-making. With a plethora of live shows under his belt, including support slots for Remi Wolf and Alfie Templeman, Headon is now looking towards his next big big project. He gave us the lowdown on the whirlwind that was 2022, creating his latest single “Georgia”, and navigating the dual worlds of Australia and the UK. 

Georgia Griffiths: How was 2022 for you?

Thomas Headon: It was good fun. I did a lot of touring. That was exciting, though. I like touring a lot. It was a big year! But one of those things where you don’t realise it’s big without reflecting on it. I feel like I just kept doing things and doing things and doing things. It was the best year of my life so far. I did Europe for the first time with Sigrid and I did the US twice, by myself and then with my friend Alfie, and then a big tour in the UK, and then a small tour in March in the UK as well for the EP. I released my EP as well, at the beginning of the year. It was a big year, but I’m kind of glad it’s over.

Looking back at 2022, is there anything that you’re most proud of in that year?

It’s one of the things you don’t realise. It’s such a Tumblr quote, but if I were to tell like 17 or even 18-year-old me that I spent the entire year travelling around I wouldn’t believe it. My mum, for Christmas, bought me this map where I can scratch off where I’ve been. That’s my job, and that’s so cool. I tour for a living, which is crazy. It’s cool that I’ve been given those opportunities. I’m proud of that. But I think more so it’s a gratitude thing, to have that life experience or even just those kinds of stories. It’s something that I know I’ll have forever.

How did you find the response to your latest single “Georgia”? Was it what you were expecting? I read there was something like 100 versions of the track.

Oh my god, there’s a Beach Boys version [laughs]. There’s a punk rock version or something like that somewhere too. We went through so many different producers. The key thing about the track is that it feels like I’ve just made it in a room with my best friend having fun, and that is literally exactly how it came about. I think the morning that we made it, I’d listened to “Harry’s House” for the first time. We were like, “Yeah, this is sick!” And we went in and were recording guitars in the shittiest way possible. We had, like, five coffee breaks. That’s how “Georgia” came about – it was a fun one.

It sounds pretty organic! Sometimes the best work actually comes from just mucking around with your mates.

Yeah, I wrote it on my own, and then we produced it on a different day. I wrote it really quickly. It was one of those 20-minute writes. I’m glad it’s been received in the way it has. I like it.

What generally is your process to write and produce? How do you put it all together?

I like writing and producing separately. I don’t like writing when someone’s making a beat, it really stresses me out. I think I find so much fun in producing as well. I love writing songs with someone. I used to write so much alone, but now I like to have ideas on my own, and then bringing them in and writing the tracks with someone.

I think also think it’s two very separate processes. Some people can do it all in one go, and that’s great, but producing a track and writing a track are completely separate. 

You’re so right. There have been so many times that I write something on a guitar or a piano, and then I send it to one of my managers, who’s had previous experience in a studio and has such good musical knowledge. I’ll send him the song that’s this really slow acoustic song and he’ll be like, “Oh, yeah, but it could sound upbeat and fast”. Then we do it in the studio, and it works.

Do you find that you’re writing lyrics and then producing to the lyrics? 

It depends on the song, recently especially I’ve been writing lyrics more and then producing. After doing the Remi shows, and watching Remi, I was like, “I don’t want to do any fucking sad songs.” I just want to share the fun, like her kind of music as well. I’m not going to the studio and being like, “I want to be Remi.” But she’s not writing on a guitar by herself. It’s definitely something I want to do more of. I want to try and do both at the same time.

Do you find that your writing is influenced by who you’re touring with?

Yeah, it can be, which is so confusing. It’s really exciting though. I need to remember – everyone does that. It’s so easy. Off the Alfie Templeman tour, I was like, “I just want sick guitar riffs.” Every now and then it’s fine.

Apparently, Bowie used to intentionally write a song in the style of another artist. 

Yeah, absolutely, you need to get it flowing sometimes. My friend, Steven, when we were in the studio a lot together for a week, we used to go through Spotify or Apple Music and just find a song we liked. You rip it off a bit, and you try and do it in that style. It’s exciting and different and fun. I’m gonna keep doing that.

I mean ultimately, there are no original ideas.

I think pieces come from everywhere. Even if it’s just being like, “I love that snare sound, I want to steal that snare sound.”

Looking forward, you’ve got this body of work you’re working on. What sort of influences are you drawing in for that? Do you have a plan? Or is it more of a free-for-all?

I want it to be fun. I want to look back on it and have it feel fun and summery. Towards the end of last year, I was so stressed about making music. I’m trying with this body of work to not go in every day being like, “I need to write a single today”, “I need to write whatever the next song is coming out”, or “I need to write a body of work track number three.” I’m just trying to write good music right now. Even if it does turn out to be a sad song, so what? That is what it is. 

That’s the best of both worlds. You’ve got something you’re working towards, but you’ve got the freedom to just play around.

I know that so many artists go in and they’re like, “I know what the body of work is about. I know that it should start here and end here.” I kind of want the best of both worlds. Just writing until it happens. I don’t want to be able to make something that I couldn’t see being on something. That’s my one motto.

You’ve spent time in Australia, you’ve spent time in the UK – you’re a mishmash of both. What’s your experience been navigating those two worlds and their industries? 

I listen to a lot of Australian music, but I tend to just avoid the music industry. I used to be super aware of it and be thinking, “Where’s my place?” Now, I’m more like, “It is what it is.” I have friends and, yeah, some friends are doing better than others. Some are getting dropped. Some are getting signed. Some are putting out an album and it’s doing poorly, some are doing an album that is doing great.

I feel like that’s the nature of it. It can be cyclical.

I’m not biased, but I think I’ll always have the Australian in me that will want to make triple j guitar tracks with that summery feel. I spent a lot of time in the US and the UK so there is also something in me that really wants to make pop music. It’s about finding the mix between the two and also not playing too much into it. I’m not writing songs like, “This will work on triple j, this will work on Radio 1.” That’s such a danger. If I can spend time in both places, and both kind of feel like home, that’s great. That works for me!

Australia has a pretty interesting relationship with pop music. It’s a question that’s coming up a bit more recently. A lot of artists are finding they have to go overseas. There has been very much that dominance of ‘triple j guitar’ music for a long time, and I think the tide’s turning a little bit.

It’s an interesting one. I love music that sounds like it’s being played in a garage. That is really cool to me. But that’s just me. I guess the stats don’t lie either.

Yeah, I think we often forget in Australia that we are a small population. Overseas there’s a place for a lot more people. Looking ahead to the rest of 2023, is there anything else you’re looking forward to this year that you can talk about?

I wish there was! I want to do smaller shows, definitely. I’m not doing any headline touring this year, which I’m excited about.

It sounds like you’re a bit headline-toured out!

I am a little bit! This is the first time in my career so far that I actually haven’t had to push at all, which is great. Even if the tour was six months away, it was one of the things to be pushing the tour. This is the first time that hasn’t been a thing, which is exciting for me. But I want to do small shows here and there. I did one with Spotify in the UK a while ago, and before I played any big shows I did a different one in the UK, as well. Those shows to 100 people are really fun. None of that is confirmed, but I want to do that.